 | The Uncollected Poems of Henry Timrod |  |
PERFECT LOVE
Love me, dearest, love me Marie,
If thou wouldst be happy still,
With the same complete affection
With the heart and with the will,
With the trustingness and power,
With the meekness and the strength,
Thou didst lavish on my childhood
But my folly lost at length.
If thou wouldst be happy still,
With the same complete affection
With the heart and with the will,
With the trustingness and power,
With the meekness and the strength,
Thou didst lavish on my childhood
But my folly lost at length.
Oh! believe me that the surest
Way to happiness and rest
Is to keep the feelings changeless
Which a youthful impulse blest.
So the flowers we used to gather,
So the stars we used to love,
Still shall seem to bloom as kindly,
Still shall prophecy above.
Way to happiness and rest
Is to keep the feelings changeless
Which a youthful impulse blest.
So the flowers we used to gather,
So the stars we used to love,
Still shall seem to bloom as kindly,
Still shall prophecy above.
29
Go forsake thy old companion,
Go forget his former worth,
Let the vow preserved in Heaven
Be a slighted thing on Earth.
When thy new-form'd friends fall from thee,
Thou shalt think of these again,
Where will be thy past to cheer thee,
What will be thy future then?
Go forget his former worth,
Let the vow preserved in Heaven
Be a slighted thing on Earth.
When thy new-form'd friends fall from thee,
Thou shalt think of these again,
Where will be thy past to cheer thee,
What will be thy future then?
Separated, separated
By the Lethe stream of change,
From the gardens of thy childhood,
There shalt thou no longer range.
In the present—Marie, hear me—
In the moment of thy woe,
Must thou seek the only solace
Which a faithless heart can know
By the Lethe stream of change,
From the gardens of thy childhood,
There shalt thou no longer range.
In the present—Marie, hear me—
In the moment of thy woe,
Must thou seek the only solace
Which a faithless heart can know
Grant thy new-found friends be constant,
Grant them all I pray they be,
They will glitter [?] and be joyous—
Never sympathize with thee.
Living only in thy present,
Knowing only what thou art,
Ready play mates in thy pleasure,
Not associates for thy heart.
Grant them all I pray they be,
They will glitter [?] and be joyous—
Never sympathize with thee.
Living only in thy present,
Knowing only what thou art,
Ready play mates in thy pleasure,
Not associates for thy heart.
Never Marie, never Dearest,
Be thy life divided thus,
So shall earth seem always lovely,
And the stars be kind to us.
Still to be serenely happy,
I repeat the truth again,
Should the present, past and future
Constitute one perfect chain.
Be thy life divided thus,
So shall earth seem always lovely,
And the stars be kind to us.
30
I repeat the truth again,
Should the present, past and future
Constitute one perfect chain.
For the joy of life is measured
Not by isolated years,
Hope should lend her eagle vision,
Memory should bring her tears.
One harmonious strain of music,
Thenceforth life would be complete,
Every note suggest the other,
Harsh connected with the sweet.
Not by isolated years,
Hope should lend her eagle vision,
Memory should bring her tears.
One harmonious strain of music,
Thenceforth life would be complete,
Every note suggest the other,
Harsh connected with the sweet.
Love me Marie, love me ever,
Love me all my love is worth,
Let us worship God together
And together walk the earth.
Then when we would reckon, dearest,
How much bliss is in our hearts,
We may add to past and present,
What the hope of Heaven imparts.
Love me all my love is worth,
Let us worship God together
And together walk the earth.
Then when we would reckon, dearest,
How much bliss is in our hearts,
We may add to past and present,
What the hope of Heaven imparts.
| The Uncollected Poems of Henry Timrod | |